Plaza de la Paja was at the heart of Old Madrid. The square derives its name from the fact that the hay (“paja”) market was held here.
On one side is the Vargas Palace (now a school, Santa Barbara).
Opposite it was the Casa de los Lasso de Castilla, where Ferdinand and Isabel stayed during their visits to Madrid. A plaque on the wall of the Church of San Andres shows the place where they crossed via a cantilevered walkway into the church. You can see the walkway in the bottom-left hand corner of Texeira’s Map (1656)1, just above Calle de San Andrés.
After Isabel’s death, Ferdinand, who was Aragonese, ruled Castile as Regent for their daughter, Juana, whom he claimed was mad. On his death in 1516, he wanted his elder grandson, Charles, to rule, even though he technically had no power to decide. The Cardinal of Toledo, whom Ferdinand left in charge after his death, confronted the agitated Castilian nobles, who favoured Juana, in the Casa de los Lasso. When asked what power the King had given him to govern, he opened the window on to Plaza de la Paja, where he had positioned a regiment of artillery, and told them “These are the powers!”.
On the side of the square adjacent to San Andres, and worth a visit, is the Bishop’s Chapel. The bishop in question was Gutierro de Vargas Carvajal, who was buried there in 1559.
The fourth side is the charming Jardin del Principe de Anglona.
